Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Insider Kathleen A. Rickard Sells 79,264 Shares

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,784,949.60. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 8.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA traded up $5.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $66.56. 1,374,996 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,124,902. The stock has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.67 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.83. Verona Pharma plc has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company's stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter worth about $84,568,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company's stock worth $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company's stock worth $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $31,966,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $74.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.14.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.